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I wonder if this type of thing has been successful in landing people jobs that require a degree as a check off before an application is looked at and the employ

by robryan 16y ago

I wonder if this type of thing has been successful in landing people jobs that require a degree as a check off before an application is looked at and the employer never bothers to properly check the credentials.

klbarry 16y ago
I was reading someones comments recently on Reddit who used a fake degree to teach English in Korea and a few other countries quite successfully. There's also been a number of stories in the news of people in high ranking positions being ousted for fake degrees.
drzaiusapelord 16y ago
I was thinking the same thing. If degree is a meaningless checkbox for most jobs then someone will serve the market for meaningless degrees. There really should be some kind of free on-line federal school for the underprivileged that would be like these online schools but with a decent curriculum and ethical testing and is accredited. The whole thing would probably cost annually what the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq cost in a few days. I'd rather talk to someone with a degree from the "US Federal Online" and know that he/she at least learned something than some random on-line diploma mill. Especially, if they put in two years at a community college.
- robryan 16y ago
  I guess the issue there is that the service could get the stigma of not counting towards a degree requirement. Employers see some random Lorenz university and think that it could possibly be a decent university vs the online school which they know all about. Given these guys are already enacting a check box degree requirement they probably would be irrational about something like this. I'm glad that the programming field is in general a lot better about this, recognizing that the degree isn't the be all and end all of an applicants ability to do a job.
- TomOfTTB 16y ago
  What you're talking about essentially exists in the form of Western Governors University. It was a project started by the Governors of the 19 western states to supply accredited online degrees to the under privileged (as a new Governor is elected to one of the member states s/he becomes a member of the board of trustees) Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Governors_University http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Governors_University It isn't free but the cost is something like $2,000 for every 6 month period and you can take as many classes as you can handle in that time frame.
  - drzaiusapelord 16y ago
    Oh wow, thanks for the info!
alex_c 16y ago
I suppose that's more plausible in the US, with its large number of schools. In Canada, if it's a school I've never heard of, chances are I'd look it up just out of curiosity.
mikeryan 16y ago
As opposed to landing jobs, there are many civil service and government jobs where your pay and and how high you can rise in the organization can be tied to your level of education. There have been numerous reports of people using these diploma mill credentials to game these systems. It may be better now...
- nkassis 16y ago
  Yes this is very common and stupid. Heck your age also might be a factor. I worked at a state University and to get anywhere close to what private employers we offering me upon graduation ( I worked at the university full time while studying) it would have required a Ph.D. to reach that bracket (or equivalent work experience with this conversion 1 year uni == 2 years work experience). This is with the benefits (10% directly into my 403b, no contributions needed) and health package.

by robryan 16y ago

klbarry 16y ago

I was reading someones comments recently on Reddit who used a fake degree to teach English in Korea and a few other countries quite successfully. There's also been a number of stories in the news of people in high ranking positions being ousted for fake degrees.

drzaiusapelord 16y ago

I was thinking the same thing. If degree is a meaningless checkbox for most jobs then someone will serve the market for meaningless degrees. There really should be some kind of free on-line federal school for the underprivileged that would be like these online schools but with a decent curriculum and ethical testing and is accredited. The whole thing would probably cost annually what the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq cost in a few days. I'd rather talk to someone with a degree from the "US Federal Online" and know that he/she at least learned something than some random on-line diploma mill. Especially, if they put in two years at a community college.

robryan 16y ago
I guess the issue there is that the service could get the stigma of not counting towards a degree requirement. Employers see some random Lorenz university and think that it could possibly be a decent university vs the online school which they know all about. Given these guys are already enacting a check box degree requirement they probably would be irrational about something like this. I'm glad that the programming field is in general a lot better about this, recognizing that the degree isn't the be all and end all of an applicants ability to do a job.
TomOfTTB 16y ago
What you're talking about essentially exists in the form of Western Governors University. It was a project started by the Governors of the 19 western states to supply accredited online degrees to the under privileged (as a new Governor is elected to one of the member states s/he becomes a member of the board of trustees) Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Governors_University http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Governors_University It isn't free but the cost is something like $2,000 for every 6 month period and you can take as many classes as you can handle in that time frame.
- drzaiusapelord 16y ago
  Oh wow, thanks for the info!

alex_c 16y ago

I suppose that's more plausible in the US, with its large number of schools. In Canada, if it's a school I've never heard of, chances are I'd look it up just out of curiosity.

mikeryan 16y ago

As opposed to landing jobs, there are many civil service and government jobs where your pay and and how high you can rise in the organization can be tied to your level of education. There have been numerous reports of people using these diploma mill credentials to game these systems. It may be better now...

nkassis 16y ago
Yes this is very common and stupid. Heck your age also might be a factor. I worked at a state University and to get anywhere close to what private employers we offering me upon graduation ( I worked at the university full time while studying) it would have required a Ph.D. to reach that bracket (or equivalent work experience with this conversion 1 year uni == 2 years work experience). This is with the benefits (10% directly into my 403b, no contributions needed) and health package.